The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “strongly” condemned the burning of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, calling for an “urgent investigation” into the incident, according to a statement released on Thursday.
The statement revealed that the Iraqi government had directed competent security agencies to urgently investigate and take necessary security measures aimed at revealing the circumstances of the incident and identifying and prosecuting those responsible for the act in accordance with the law.
The Swedish embassy in Baghdad was set on fire early Thursday during a protest organized by supporters of the Sadrist movement’s leader Muqtada al-Sadr. This incident occurred on the eve of a gathering in Sweden outside the Iraqi embassy, where the organizer intended to burn a copy of the Quran.
The attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad comes after Swedish police allowed a small gathering outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where the organizer planned to burn a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi flag on Thursday.
The individual intending to burn the Quran in Sweden on Thursday is an Iraqi refugee named Solvan Momeka. On June 28, he burned pages from a copy of the Quran in front of the largest mosque in Stockholm on Eid al-Adha.
Responding to the invasion of its embassy, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated:
• We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff of international organizations.
• All our embassy staff in Baghdad are safe, and the Ministry is in regular contact with them.
• Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention.
• The Iraqi authorities are responsible for protecting diplomatic missions and their staff.
